Heiferlaw tower house (Denwick)
(NU 18261771) Heiferlaw Tower (ruins of). (1)
Heiferlaw Tower was not built before 1470 (2). It belonged to Alnwick Abbey and is mentioned in a survey of the Abbey's possessions dated 1540. The tower is three storeyed, of grey sandstone, and measures 28ft 9ins x 24ft 4ins. The floors were of wood with access by a wooden stair in the south west corner. There is a fireplace on the second storey. A panel in the east wall and another on the south wall bear the combined badges of the Abbot and Percy. These badges were not used conjointly until the time of Henry, the fourth Earl Percy, and the building is therefore not earlier than 1469. In the east wall is a small niche with a trefoil canopy, suitable for a statue, but now empty. (3)
The walls of the tower, which is now just a shell, are 1.2m thick and stand approximately 7m high. (Cardinal points referred to by Tate are incorrect - east wall refers to north east wall and south wall to south east wall, while south west corner should read south corner).
The entrance to the tower is by pointed doorway in the south wall. All the windows are square headed. On the inside walls are corbels and joist holes to support the wooden floors, and in the south corner, grooves in the masonry indicate the site of the stairway.
The tower is in good condition. (4)
Condition unchanged. (5)
Scheduled. (6)
A rectangular tower, 8.7m by 7.4m externally with walls c.1.m thick faced by sandstone ashlars in courses which vary in height. The doorway is set south of centre in the west wall and has a two-centred arch with its head cut from two stones; the jambs have a plain chamfer but the head has a hollow casement moulding between two rolls; there is a drawbar tunnel in the south jamb. In the south wall is a ragged opening that seems to have been enlarged from a quatrefoil, which itself was perhaps a piece of late 18th century gothicisation. The east wall has a small chamfered loop. At first floor level there is a square-headed two-light mullioned window on the south, now blocked, a small square headed window on the west and a small lancet-like light on the east; there is also a ragged opening on the north that seems to have an old internal splay. At second floor level there are square-headed windows in north and south walls; the east wall has quite a large trefoil-headed recess (now empty) and the south and east walls rectangular panels containing the combined badges of Percy and the Abbot of Alnwick, a conjunction only used after 1469. There is no parapet, but a number of stone spouts rest on the wallhead.
Internally, the first floor has been carried on transverse beams, the sockets of which remains. Lower sockets midway along north and south walls indicate some sort of partition. At second floor level a series of corbels have carried plates alongside the walls, which in turn have carried floor timbers. There is no evidence of any stair. At first floor level there is a fireplace with a corbelled-out lintel on the west wall.
This is a rather unusual tower. Although the door has a drawbar tunnel, it is not a seriously defensible structure. Its position suggests that it served as a lookout. (7)
Heiferlaw Tower. Grade I. Lookout tower for Alnwick Abbey, dateable to 1470-89 from heraldry. Large squared stone; roofless. Rectangular 3-storey tower 8.76 x 7.4m externally. South elevation shows ground floor loop re-cut to Gothick quatrefoil, blocked square-headed 2-light window above (mullion missing) under panel with Alnwick Abbey and Percy arms, and 2nd-floor loop. Left return shows moulded 2-centred-arched doorway and 1st floor loop; right return shows loops to lower floors with similar heraldic panel and trefoil-headed niche above. 1st and 2nd floor loops to rear. Interior: 1st-floor fireplace with corbelled lintel; sockets for 1st-floor beams and corbels for 2nd floor. The Percy arms have a pair of fetterlocks (handcuffs) within the usual crescent, a form used by the 4th Earl of Northumberland, who also built the towerhouse at Hulne Friary (NU 11 NE 17). (7a)
NU 183 177. Heiferlaw Tower. Scheduled No ND/60. (7b)
Heiferlaw Tower was not built before 1470 (2). It belonged to Alnwick Abbey and is mentioned in a survey of the Abbey's possessions dated 1540. The tower is three storeyed, of grey sandstone, and measures 28ft 9ins x 24ft 4ins. The floors were of wood with access by a wooden stair in the south west corner. There is a fireplace on the second storey. A panel in the east wall and another on the south wall bear the combined badges of the Abbot and Percy. These badges were not used conjointly until the time of Henry, the fourth Earl Percy, and the building is therefore not earlier than 1469. In the east wall is a small niche with a trefoil canopy, suitable for a statue, but now empty. (3)
The walls of the tower, which is now just a shell, are 1.2m thick and stand approximately 7m high. (Cardinal points referred to by Tate are incorrect - east wall refers to north east wall and south wall to south east wall, while south west corner should read south corner).
The entrance to the tower is by pointed doorway in the south wall. All the windows are square headed. On the inside walls are corbels and joist holes to support the wooden floors, and in the south corner, grooves in the masonry indicate the site of the stairway.
The tower is in good condition. (4)
Condition unchanged. (5)
Scheduled. (6)
A rectangular tower, 8.7m by 7.4m externally with walls c.1.m thick faced by sandstone ashlars in courses which vary in height. The doorway is set south of centre in the west wall and has a two-centred arch with its head cut from two stones; the jambs have a plain chamfer but the head has a hollow casement moulding between two rolls; there is a drawbar tunnel in the south jamb. In the south wall is a ragged opening that seems to have been enlarged from a quatrefoil, which itself was perhaps a piece of late 18th century gothicisation. The east wall has a small chamfered loop. At first floor level there is a square-headed two-light mullioned window on the south, now blocked, a small square headed window on the west and a small lancet-like light on the east; there is also a ragged opening on the north that seems to have an old internal splay. At second floor level there are square-headed windows in north and south walls; the east wall has quite a large trefoil-headed recess (now empty) and the south and east walls rectangular panels containing the combined badges of Percy and the Abbot of Alnwick, a conjunction only used after 1469. There is no parapet, but a number of stone spouts rest on the wallhead.
Internally, the first floor has been carried on transverse beams, the sockets of which remains. Lower sockets midway along north and south walls indicate some sort of partition. At second floor level a series of corbels have carried plates alongside the walls, which in turn have carried floor timbers. There is no evidence of any stair. At first floor level there is a fireplace with a corbelled-out lintel on the west wall.
This is a rather unusual tower. Although the door has a drawbar tunnel, it is not a seriously defensible structure. Its position suggests that it served as a lookout. (7)
Heiferlaw Tower. Grade I. Lookout tower for Alnwick Abbey, dateable to 1470-89 from heraldry. Large squared stone; roofless. Rectangular 3-storey tower 8.76 x 7.4m externally. South elevation shows ground floor loop re-cut to Gothick quatrefoil, blocked square-headed 2-light window above (mullion missing) under panel with Alnwick Abbey and Percy arms, and 2nd-floor loop. Left return shows moulded 2-centred-arched doorway and 1st floor loop; right return shows loops to lower floors with similar heraldic panel and trefoil-headed niche above. 1st and 2nd floor loops to rear. Interior: 1st-floor fireplace with corbelled lintel; sockets for 1st-floor beams and corbels for 2nd floor. The Percy arms have a pair of fetterlocks (handcuffs) within the usual crescent, a form used by the 4th Earl of Northumberland, who also built the towerhouse at Hulne Friary (NU 11 NE 17). (7a)
NU 183 177. Heiferlaw Tower. Scheduled No ND/60. (7b)
N4417
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1955; E Geary
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1970; B H Pritchard
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1970; B H Pritchard
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